1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of providing a mobile phone with data communication services, and more particularly a method of providing data communication services for a mobile phone connected to external electronic equipment, such as a personal computer (PC) or fax machine, via a data cable.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a mobile phone may be used to provide data communication services for equipment connected to the mobile phone, such as a personal computer (PC) or fax machine connected to the mobile phone, by exchanging data files with the computer or fax machine through a radio channel allotted for voice communication. The connection between the external equipment is typically through the provision of a data cable. However, conventional mobile phones have no means of detecting the status of the connection between the data cable attached to the PC and the mobile phone. Consequently, if the data cable between the mobile phone and the PC is inadvertently disconnected during data communication, the mobile phone continues the radio channel communication as if it were still connected to the computer or fax machine, without detecting the disconnection. This may lead to a mobile phone service provider billing a user for time during which the user did not receive data communication services due to the undetected disconnection of the data cable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile phone with a method of terminating a data communication connection when a data cable between a mobile phone and a personal computer (PC) is inadvertently disconnected during data communication, thereby not exposing a user to billing for time during which he was not receiving data communication services.
The present invention, a method of providing data communication services for a PC connected by a data cable to a mobile phone, comprises the steps of periodically checking a connection state of the data cable to generate connection state data, storing the connection state data in a memory, periodically updating the connection state data, and determining whether to provide data communication services based on the connection state data.